


Tales of The FRIENDZONE

by FaithAndATypeWriter



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Friendzone, Maybe One Line of Angst, Navigating relationships, Oops I Love My Best Friend, Or Maybe Mild Angsty Buildup to Fluff, Pretty Sure This is ALL Fluff, Realizing Feelings, Young Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-29
Updated: 2019-08-29
Packaged: 2020-09-29 14:57:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20437931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FaithAndATypeWriter/pseuds/FaithAndATypeWriter
Summary: The Friendzone is a bleak, insufferable, metaphorical land that is feared and dreaded by all.  Nothing can be worse for a hopeful romantic than to be trapped in this wasteland!But how can Adrien ever get Marinette to see him as more than a very good friend?





	Tales of The FRIENDZONE

Young love was _ so hard _! It was difficult enough to navigate all these feelings and to start learning how to be in real relationships. Added to that, so many people had the opinion that it wouldn’t last! Sure, your first crush isn’t likely to be THE ONE that you end up wanting to spend the rest of your life with, but that didn’t mean it should be easily dismissed when you find someone that you could see yourself partnering with Until Death Do You Part!

It’s especially hard when you can’t talk to anyone about what your going through because the person your in love with happens to be your best friend/secret superhero partner.

Adrien had struggled with this for a long time. He may be young, but he felt a strong connection with Ladybug that he didn’t think could be broken. But then...she didn’t feel quite the same way.

He knew their connection wouldn’t be any less strong as friends, but it was really hard for him to come to terms with the idea of moving on from Ladybug. He tried to talk about it with Kagami and even tried to move on with her, but that just didn’t work out. Not to mention, even with Kagami, he wasn’t able to fully open up to anyone about exactly _ who _ it was he was in love with and _ why _it wasn’t working out. 

And Plagg was in no way, shape, or form _any_ help.

He eventually came to the conclusion that he’d have to learn how to move on by himself. Alone. Again. 

He didn’t mean to be angsty about it, but this was one of those things he really would have liked to talk to his mother about.

He just didn’t know how he was supposed to go about letting go and moving on. He wasn’t sure he could. And he wouldn’t feel right about trying a new relationship until he was sure he wouldn’t be making that girl his second choice.

Time went on and he was relieved that while he still felt strongly for Ladybug, his feelings had become less overwhelming and their friendship had strengthened.

HIs life outside the mask had changed, as well. While it still felt like he had to jump through hoops to arrange time with his friends, they all supported him and made sure to include him any way possible. He’d been becoming especially good friends with Marinette. She’d video call him when he was stuck home and, during his rare rebellious moments, provided him with a long chain of eccentric disguises. 

Imagine his surprise when he’d been spending a quiet (Gabriel Agreste approved) day with Nino, Alya, and Marinette playing video games at Marinette’s house and he was hit a blaring, loud thought in his head: Gosh, I love that girl.

Adrien froze. That was almost the exact same thing he’d experienced with Ladybug. He hadn’t said it outloud this time, had he? No, no… his friends weren’t staring at him as though his skin had turned green with pink polkadots, so he must be good.

Hmm… Marinette likes polkadots.

Focus, child! 

Okay...did he mean it? Yes. Yes, he did. Alright.

Was it a new development? Okay, let's assess recent memory... oops. Not new then.

He was completely preoccupied the rest of the evening. He realized his feelings during games of Ultimate Mecha Strike 3. He compared and contrasted old and current feels for Ladybug versus what he feels for Marinette while Alya and Marinette got into a heated debate about the importance and merits of workplace dress code, of all things. By the time dinner with the four of them and Marinette’s parents rolled around he had processed, computed, reasoned, and had finally come to the acceptance phase of his realization.

He’d spent the rest of the meal trying to hide the fact that he was staring at Marinette. While sitting next to her big teddy bear of a father. Who Adrien knew for a fact could crush him like a...well, not a bug. But still, oi!

Of course, he knew the real problem wasn’t with Tom. Tom was great and he only had his daughter’s best interest at heart. He knew he could prove himself to Tom and Sabine and earn their trust. 

The problem was Marinette.

Marinette was a miracle. Sweet, humble, hardworking, intelligent, beautiful, could beat him miraculously at video games and rub his face in it with an adorable victory dance. She had become one of his closest friends.

And there was the rub--because to Marinette, all he was was a very good friend.

He spent his ride home looking up ‘how to get out of the friendzone’ on his phone and worked himself up into a friendzone frenzy by the time he reached the front door. What if she was repulsed by the idea? He and she weren't bound by a partnership and vow to protect Paris! If he made her uncomfortable she may never want to see him again!

In a random show of parental interaction, Gabriel greeted him as Adrien came into the foyar.

“How was your time with your friends, Adrien?” Gabriel had actually emerged from his office, Natalie in tow (Adrien theorized it was part of her job description to be glued to his father’s side and act as a human buffer and double the don’t-approach-me vibe and fend off wanton contact with other people), and was initiating conversation.

Adrien, brain fried and filter gone, turned to him and blurted out, “I’m in love with Marinette Dupain-Cheng but I can’t tell her because it’ll ruin our friendship if she doesn’t like me back and she’ll think I’m a creeper and I”m gonna die alone with my memories and the existential weight of what might have been!”

Natalie’s mouth popped open a little but both pairs of eyes widened slightly behind their steel personas. Finally, Gabriel sighed and fished out some cash from his pocket and handed it to Natalie.

Adrien observed in confusion and then looked betrayed as realization dawned. “You’ve bet this would happen?”

“I’ll admit, not to this extreme, but we have been speculating how long it would take you to come to terms with your ‘good friend Marinette.’” Gabriel said.

Adrien glared. “And you couldn’t have given me a hint or a wake up call?”

“Are you under the impression I am a controlling parent?” Gabriel asked levely.

All three of them startled when there seemed to be multiple disembodied snorts in the room, but it was decidedly ignored.

“What am I going to do? I can’t tell her! She only sees me as a friend!” Adrien lamented.

Natalie definitely snorted this time and held her hand out to accept another bet payment from Gabriel. He glared slightly as he paid up.

Natalie smirked and muttered something suspiciously close to sounding like him being his father’s son. Louder, she said, “Marinette very obviously returns your feelings, as is apparent by many blatant instances that I am not able to divulge. However, I believe if you reflect on your interactions with her you will draw the same conclusion. MIght I suggest flowers to break the ice?”

Adrien’s eyes blew wide and his jaw trembled a bit. “Uh...yeah? Yeah. That should work. Oh, but I should probably stay away from roses. For some reason her eye starts twitching whenever she sees one...maybe she’s allergic.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed!  
Blessings,  
FaithAndATypeWriter


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